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rMBP to rMB Crossovers

A

AdonisSMU

macrumors 604
Original poster
Oct 23, 2010
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I am planning to go from a late 2012 13" rMBP to a 12" rMB. Any one else? Lets here the reasoning as to why.

As for me, I am planning the move for portability and weight. I would've liked a bigger display but its not a deal breaker for me.
 
I posted something like this in the MBA crossover thread, but since this thread is rMBP crossovers and that's actually my facts, here goes.

I walk about two miles and have a half hour train ride to work every day, with the same coming back home.

Right now I'm carrying a 13" rMBP and an iPad (was an Air; it got too big and heavy so I changed to an rMini) every day. It's ok, but I notice the weight. And at work I don't need (actually can't use) the USB ports for data exchange. Last week I was experimenting with an 11" MBA instead of the 13" rMBP, which is a weight difference of a little over a pound, and it was very noticeable. I also don't think that the rMB would be challenged by what I do with it while commuting or at work - mostly Word, Excel, Outlook and Safari.

So, getting rid of almost 1 1/2 pounds of laptop (vs. the 13" rMBP) with no give-up in screen quality or connectivity (in my case) is really no issue at all. The slightly smaller screen might or might not be an issue under some conditions, since I often need to have two documents open at once and the 13.3" screen might be just enough bigger to make a difference - hard to tell without trying it in person.

The biggest issue is whether I feel like putting $1300 into that dedicated use (and keep the rMBP), or justify the $1300 by selling the rMBP (not inclined to do so - and I do things with the rMBP at home, like photo and video editing, that I'm not sure the rMB is a good candidate for). A secondary issue is whether it's dumb to buy a Gen1 design. The original Air and iPad were innovative but not fully developed (duh). Resale value is probably high enough that I might take that risk.
 
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newellj said:
So, getting rid of almost 1 1/2 pounds of laptop (vs. the 13" rMBP) with no give-up in screen quality or connectivity (in my case) is really no issue at all.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why I'm going from the 13" rMBP to the rMB. And I have absolutely no hesitations about it. Plus I'll be selling my rMBP, so I'll come out ahead as far as price goes.
 
PDFierro said:
That's exactly why I'm going from the 13" rMBP to the rMB. And I have absolutely no hesitations about it. Plus I'll be selling my rMBP, so I'll come out ahead as far as price goes.
Click to expand...

Can you sell it back to Apple?
 
Buying one to compliment my 15" rMBP. Why? I could justify it by saying I want a smaller, more portable laptop for class and work. But the real reason is because it's new and shiny and I truly have a difficult time resisting temptation.
 
uiop. said:
Buying one to compliment my 15" rMBP. Why? I could justify it by saying I want a smaller, more portable laptop for class and work. But the real reason is because it's new and shiny and I truly have a difficult time resisting temptation.
Click to expand...

I was holding out to see what Apple offered up. I wouldve liked a 15" option. Im not a port hungry user. I do like the additional screen real estate though.
 
AdonisSMU said:
I was holding out to see what Apple offered up. I wouldve liked a 15" option. Im not a port hungry user. I do like the additional screen real estate though.
Click to expand...

Screen real estate is important to me as well. I'm keeping the 15er and just bought a 28" 4K display that I'll plug it into and use as a desktop.
 
AdonisSMU said:
I was holding out to see what Apple offered up. I wouldve liked a 15" option. Im not a port hungry user. I do like the additional screen real estate though.
Click to expand...

I've never hooked my 13" rMBP up to a monitor. So I'm used to the 13 inch screen size, and it's my favorite size for laptops. Before that I had the 11-inch Air, which I always thought was too small. But with the new MacBook being 12 inches and having a 16:10 aspect ratio, I think I'll be fine. The screen size shouldn't be a big difference from my rMBP, plus I can always scale resolutions.
 
PDFierro said:
I've never hooked my 13" rMBP up to a monitor. So I'm used to the 13 inch screen size, and it's my favorite size for laptops. Before that I had the 11-inch Air, which I always thought was too small. But with the new MacBook being 12 inches and having a 16:10 aspect ratio, I think I'll be fine. The screen size shouldn't be a big difference from my rMBP, plus I can always scale resolutions.
Click to expand...

I almost always scale the resolution...even on a 15" machine.
 
I'll be selling my late 2014 13" rMBP to get the 12" rMB. I was honestly only using the rMBP as a stop-gap until this came out. I was happily surprised that it was announced now and not at WWDC. I want/need that retina screen now that I've used it on the rMBP. But, I want it smaller. For what I do, portability is more important than CPU horsepower. And, I use a dongle with my rMBP at least 2-3 times a week now for gigabit ethernet access, so carrying a dongle for USB-C to USB3 won't be a big deal. Hopefully, they release a single USB-C to Gigabit adapter soon, as I'd rather not have a dongle, plugged into another dongle. Besides, that just sounds weird :eek:
 
Possibly, though waiting for some benchmarks. Kinda concerned out the CPU, do want to be in the same situation as the first gen MBA, that was crap!
 
Not me, my rMBP is a great machine, and does everything I want it too. I think the Core M CPU and iGPU are too underpowered for my needs. I use Vmware, Photoshop and Lightroom. Plus, I'm not a fan of the single port, while my 2012 rMBP doesn't exactly have a wealth of ports, there's enough, including a thunderbolt.
 
AdonisSMU said:
I was holding out to see what Apple offered up. I wouldve liked a 15" option. Im not a port hungry user. I do like the additional screen real estate though.
Click to expand...

This. I am also anxious to see the Skylake iteration of Core M.
 
uiop. said:
Buying one to compliment my 15" rMBP. Why? I could justify it by saying I want a smaller, more portable laptop for class and work. But the real reason is because it's new and shiny and I truly have a difficult time resisting temptation.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm considering, but I'm havering trouble between the new rMB or an iPad Air 3.

I take my slow and old iPad 3 to class with me and leave my 15" rMBP at home. For grad school, I'm either upgrading the iPad or getting a rMB.

Do I want to give up the tablet form factor...that is the question...

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maflynn said:
Not me, my rMBP is a great machine, and does everything I want it too. I think the Core M CPU and iGPU are too underpowered for my needs. I use Vmware, Photoshop and Lightroom. Plus, I'm not a fan of the single port, while my 2012 rMBP doesn't exactly have a wealth of ports, there's enough, including a thunderbolt.
Click to expand...

Does that machine double as your casual use device? Or do you use an iPad or something?

EDIT: you have a 6 Plus right? Is that your casual device?
 
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